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| | Monday, September 6 | |||||
Associated Press | ||||||
| ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan still has the same old
quarterback controversy.
You can't go past a playground today without seeing the same gesture being traded back and forth a dozen times. This one took place in the overheated cauldron of the Big House, as Michigan Stadium is called, on a 90-degree day near the end of a game in one of the most storied and passionate rivalries college football has to offer. At the moment Brown caught the ball, there were 111,523 fans looking on -- most of them wildly partisan Wolverine fans. And because he got up and imitated a moose for an instant, he's the one guilty of taunting? Apparently so, because Notre Dame got slapped with a 15-yard penalty that was tacked onto the ensuing kickoff. The rule book expressly prohibits a player, after scoring, from turning to face the crowd. There were similar penalties called against Baylor and Boston College after touchdowns in another game Saturday. Both were assessed 15-yard penalties and both missed the ensuing extra point. Boston College won 30-29 in overtime when Baylor missed a second extra point. Now, those 15 yards assessed against Notre Dame obviously didn't decide the game against Michigan. Not all by themselves. But when the Irish kicked from their own 20 to Thomas, who was moved into the middle of the return formation, he returned it 20 yards to the Michigan 42. That meant the Irish defense had to start its last stand with the almost half the field already conquered. "This was all about about coaching and all I can say is that sort of thing won't happen again," Notre Dame coach Bob Davie said, offering to absorb as much blame as he could. "I'm not blaming Bobby. I blame myself. We can't have silly mistakes like that."Davie's right, of course, but only about the late hit, and maybe his own decision, on the ill-fated kickoff, to have the ball drilled to Thomas right down the middle of the Michigan return formation. Even sillier, though, is the celebration rule itself. "It was just something personal," said Brown, a senior. "I thought because I did it quick, he (the official) wouldn't see it. It was pure excitement. I've been around here too long for the coaches to question me about being a hot dog." Maybe so, maybe not. Offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers was red-faced afterward and Davie, given several chances to hang his player out to dry, passed on them. "I take responsibility for that," Davie said. "It was a matter of coaching. We have to coach better." Or lobby more effectively to change the rule. An excessive celebration is what Jerry Pate did when he won golf's TPC championship in 1982, pushing then-commissioner Deane Beman and course architect Pete Dye into a lake ahead of him and then jumping in.An excessive celebration is what 1,500-meter runner Gabriella Dorio found waiting when she finished her event at the 1984 Olympics and returned home to be bathed in wine by her husband. What Brown did Saturday wasn't excessive. But by helping Michigan win its season opener, he certainly contributed to some partying that would be by the time Saturday night rolled around. | ALSO SEE Seventh-ranked Michigan survives scare from Irish
AUDIO/VIDEO   Michigan RB Anthony Thomas powers his way into the end zone.avi: 1560 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN Notre Dame QB Jarious Jackson finds a wide open Jabari Holloway for the easy score.avi: 1980 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | |||||
